Venom by Jennifer Estep

Book Description:
What kind of assassin works pro bono?
It's hard to be a bad ass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most.
To the public, I'm Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland's best barbecue joint. To my friends, I'm the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab's right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I'll take my chances. Then there's Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland's finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I'm a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.


My Thoughts:
This was an interesting book. Not the norm for me but interesting. Gin is an elemental who is also a retired assassin who is on a mission of vengence. Right off you meet her nemisis Mab and her goons as they beat Gin up. Jonah wants Gin 'to get dead' for the murder of his son, which he can't prove she did, but he is after her anyway. Bria is Gin's long lost baby sister now a cop working the streets with a reputation for standing up against the bad guys. After having one straight laced cop in her life Gin isn't sure how she and her sister will get along but is determined to let no harm come to her, no matter what....
You've gotta like that this book starts out with action, ok so it starts with a cold but still! Gin is a strong character but has a few weaknesses including family and friends! Owen is hot, but then again most of the characters in the book are good looking. I liked the character Finn, he is like a brother to Gin and is completely focused on sex, but he adds his sense of humor to the story and I enjoyed that. Honestly I liked most of the characters but the plot seemed kind of flat to me. Maybe it was because this was in a series and I haven't read the ones before it, but I just didn't get into this book.
I rate this book a 3/5. It was a nice change of pace for me but nothing I would read again.


Thank you to Gallery Books for the review copy of this book. I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.